Phoenix Suns coach Mike Budenholzer meets with the media after the Suns (8-2) had their seven-game winning streak snapped with a 127-118 overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings (6-4) in their first game without Kevin Durant (calf strain). The Suns lost their first game in the clutch (games within five points in the final five minutes) after entering tonight 7-0 in those situations.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!DeMar DeRozan went off in the fourth quarter and overtime for the Kings, scoring 24 of his game-high 34 points in these two periods on 9-of-10 shooting. The Suns looked gassed after mounting a comeback of their own in the second half. Devin Booker and Bradley Beal had a few uncharacteristic airballs in the fourth quarter and overtime. Sacramento shot 7-for-8 in overtime as a team, as De’Aaron Fox (21 points and 12 rebounds on the night) had eight points in overtime. Phoenix, meanwhile shot 2-for-9 (22.2%) as a team in OT and 1-for-7 (14.3%) from 3.
The Suns led the entire fourth quarter until Keegan Murray made a tip-in with 3.9 seconds to put Sacramento up 111-110. After a Phoenix timeout, Booker was then fouled by Murray before the inbounds play. He hit the single free throw, and by rule, Phoenix got to inbound the ball again. Booker missed what would have been the game-winning 3-pointer and the game went to overtime tied at 111.
Overtime in Phoenix.
After getting fouled before the inbounds play with 3.9 seconds left, Devin Booker makes the single free throw to tie the game at 111, but misses the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer. #SACvsPHX https://t.co/M4K1gljeU7 pic.twitter.com/N08OuVZd1G
— Burn City Suns ☀️ (@BurnCitySuns) November 11, 2024
The Kings took an 11-point lead early in the third quarter after being in front since early in the first quarter. However, the Suns put together a clinic in the third quarter, winning the period 29-19 and holding Sacramento to 7-of-23 (30.4%) shooting, 1-of-9 (11.1%) shooting from 3 and forcing five turnovers. Without Durant, they just weren’t able to ride this to a W.
Beal had a season-high 28 points on 9-of-18 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and scored all seven of Phoenix’s points in overtime. He went down with a knee injury in overtime, but did end up finishing the game.
Jusuf Nurkić left the game at halftime with left ankle soreness, which he was questionable with heading into the game. Mason Plumlee (six points, 11 rebounds, six assists) and Oso Ighodaro (five points and two rebounds) did a great job in his minutes in the second half.
Booker shot 3-for-10 in the fourth quarter and overtime, but recorded his second-straight double-double with 23 points on 9-of-22 shooting (3-for-10 from 3) and 12 assists.
The Suns next travel to take on the Utah Jazz Tuesday.
Key quotes from Budenholzer (via Suns):
- On coming up short in overtime: “DeRozan and Fox made a lot of plays going down the stretch and in overtime. They got to their spots and made shots and got to the free throw line. We tried a couple of things; we’ll learn from it and get better.”
- On the performance during late fourth quarter with different possessions and different guys handling the ball: “We’ll have to go back and look at it. I’m sure there’s a little bit of both of us learning how to play without Kevin (Durant) at the end of the game, another close game put us in the cooker pressure. I think we had some good possessions and I’m sure we’ll look at some possessions and feel like we could have been better.”
- On the Kings doubling Devin Booker in overtime and having to get the ball in Bradley Beal’s hands: “I think again, there’s a lot of plays down the stretch, that it felt like we had a couple shots that we weren’t able to make; we needed to make a couple more shots. We got a piece of the paint, we kicked it, and we weren’t able to convert. We’ll look at it and see if our spacing was good, if we played with the pass, played together, but credit them defensively too. I think they show a crowd and then they spray out and contest and I think we didn’t make enough shots just for the game. I think we’re capable of shooting it at a higher clip and we didn’t tonight. I think that’s part of their defense, so we’ll look at and try to see where we get better.”
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
